Modern operating systems having a graphical user interface, such as Windows™ and Macintosh™, are capable of displaying a re-sizable, movable window for each application executing on a computer. A user interacts with the applications using a keyboard and a pointing device, such as a mouse. Although multiple application windows may be simultaneously displayed, only one application window may be active (in the foreground) at any one time. When tasks in two or more windows are related to each other, the user will take advantage of this multiwindow capability to sequentially work between one or more related applications opened simultaneously in order to multitask. An example of multitasking between related applications is juggling a video editing application in concert with a music editing application and a graphics design application, all being used interactively.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional computer desktop 10 displaying multiple application windows. Three application windows 12a-c (collectively 12) are shown, each having multiple objects and fields 14a-c (collectively 14) in distinct locations in which the user is required to select or enter application-specific data. A single mouse pointer 16 is displayed that the user may freely move about the desktop 10 and use to select and make active any window 12 of interest. Positioning the mouse pointer 16 over any part of a window 12a and clicking a mouse button (not shown) causes that window 12a, and hence its application, to become active (and highlighted). In response, the other windows 12b and 12c become inactive (grayed out). A second click in the active window 12a is required to select a field 14a or other object inside the window 12a. 
In order to work between the application windows 12, the user must move the mouse pointer 16 away from the current field 14a in the active window 12a to another window 12b of interest and then click the mouse to activate the window. The user must then position the mouse pointer 16 and a field 14b of interest within the new active window 12 and click the mouse again. Because the applications typically have very different user interfaces, the fields 14 displayed in each window 12 are not positioned in similar locations. Therefore, the operation requires a high degree of concentration, hand-eye coordination, and tiresome eye-focusing to switch between the fields 14 of the different application windows 12, often impairing the creative process.
What is needed is an improved method and system for switching between windows in a multiwindow computing environment. The present invention addresses such a need.